Little Jimmy

Bill returns home from Wednesday night church service, goes inside and gets his 6yr old pomeranian Dasiy. They stroll down the block taking in the smell of fresh cut grass and roses blooming in Mrs. Roger's flower garden. The neighborhood is quiet, living room windows are filled with families winding down for the evening. Moms and Dads are busy changing kids into pajamas and helping them brush their teeth. Soon the kids will be asleep and mom and dad will enjoy a cup of freshly brewed coffee while they watch the latest TV program. Bill returns home, gives Dasiy her chew toy and flops down on the couch. Across town 7 yr old Jimmy is being dropped off by the church van from the same church Bill had just left. But Jimmy is not walking into a neighborhood where the smell is of fresh cut grass, in fact in this neighborhood there is no grass only dirt yards and instead of roses, beer bottles and cigerates fill the flower boxes. The quiet night is broken by cursing and foul language, little Jimmy is made fun of by his two older brothers as he carries his drawing inside the mill house he calls home. Instead of a warm supper and a bath he meets a drunken father who barks out the order for Jimmy to clean the kitchen and go to bed. There is no one to help brush his teeth, no one to say goodnight and instead of pajamas little Jimmy will sleep in the same clothes he wore to school. But Jimmy has a smile in his little heart because just once a week for 1 1/2 hours Jimmy is at church where he is treated like a 7yr old boy, he is loved on, cared for and taught about the God that loves him. Jimmy is not the best child in church and he is loud and disruptive on the church van, but he is loved on anyway. When the other kids lay down in a quiet warm bed the thought of church is far from their minds, but when Jimmy lays down on a matress in the floor above the noise ringing through the house he smiles in his heart thinking back on church this Wednesday night.


It is clear that Christ loves and commands us to love children. This is easy to say but not always easy to do. As I drove the church van tonight and droped off 23 little Jimmys, the thought came into my mind. "We can show them the love of Christ now or wait till they are behind bars and show them then." The church van ministry is one of the most important ministries in the church, to take this ministry lightly is to take the command of Jesus lightly. "Let the little children come to me."

"Moving on Up"

I approach every Monday the same way, to have a better week than the one before! I often even sit down on Sunday night and think about the things I want to make better in my life, like spend more time with my kids, be a better husband to my wife, exercise more, study harder, and on and on. This past Sunday night as my wife and I were making a "healthy" supper menu for the week and encouraging each other to push hard, I thought to myself "I hope this week is great." Monday morning rolls around and I am hit with past sin in my life, not only me but others around me as well. It was as if Satan had dug in the trash cans of our life and brought back those smelly past mistakes that had been made. I was crippled, hurt and depressed as I fumbled around for the next two days, hiding out in my office I remembered the words of Paul.


"Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.
Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."


Paul knew about past all too well, and reminded me that sometimes the best shepherds are ex-wolves.

Poison Envy

The wickedness of envy hides itself in so many forms, just like the poison ivy leaf it blends in to its surrounding waiting for you to come into contact with it. Often times when you do come in contact with the poison ivy leaf it causes discomfort and spreads to other parts of your body until treated. What a picture of envy! Envy most of the time disguises itself so that you don't even see it until discomfort comes into your life. So what is envy?

Dictionary.com defines envy as "a feeling of discontent or covetousness with regards to another's advantages, success, possessions, etc."

I have seen envy rip apart marriages, relationship and families. It is important that you guard yourselves against this poison before it spreads to the rest of your life. Once envy creeps into your life it spreads like cancer, the effects are just as deadly spiritually. The reaction you have with envy is often slander and gossip towards those you are envious about. You seek to see them fail anyway you can so that you can get joy over watching them suffer. But this is not how it starts, it always starts by looking at someone else and then looking at yourself. Comparing your life with someones else, your kids to someone else, your spouse to someone else and then wondering why they have it so good and you have it so bad.

So whats the cure? We have to be satisfied where we are with what we have. Make the best of the things God has blessed you with. Be a blessing to someone instead of a curse, deal with those things that cause you to be envious and pray for those who are being spiritually consumed by envy and don't even see it.


Your envy is clear to those around you just like the kid at school painted pink with "calamine lotion" be warned, envy kills!